The Vagabonds: Prelude
by BoredPotatoGod
Summary: The story about the Vagabonds leader, and how the Vagabonds came to be.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Do I even need to?**

**Prologue:**

It was dark. Pitch black, the darkness wasn't like the dark you'd have if you simply turned off the lights, this was a darkness that suffocated all life, a sort of darkness that you would think you would find in a black hole. Sucking in all sources of light and smothering any hopes of survival. In that blackness a loud pop cracked into the nothingness and wailing filled the air. An infant had been transported into that space. Hellhounds perked their heads up and howled, they sensed prey. With that they raced towards the small body, but as the horde approached the infant it let out a piercing cry, higher pitched than the rest of its wailing, and with that shriek all the hellhounds burst into dust and cracks rippled through the ground. This was the start of a story of a child, betrayed by his own father, the adventures of the boy named Δαβίδ, otherwise translated as David.

Everyday was a struggle, everyday David was on the brink of death, with monsters chasing after him. But he survived, and he adapted, he grew with each fight, stronger and stronger, more and more powerful. And with his power so did his hatred.

"Zeus… I remember, I remember **everything**! I'll hunt you down… I will kill you if it's the last thing I do." And with that promise David's determination grew, he could not die, he **would** not die, not until he achieved his revenge. And so he mastered his abilities, learned how to fight, learned to survive in the harshest conditions. He learned everything in order to become a perfect killing machine. And where was this boy training, why, in Tartarus, of course.

Chapter One:

"HOW DARE YOU REFUSE TO ANSWER MY RIDDLE!" The sphinx roared,

"I don't give a fuck about your shitty riddle," I growled. The sphinx pounced at super human speed, if I was any slower then I would have been shredded into tiny slices of meat. But I wasn't anyone else, I was me, and I was used to being on the edge of death every second, it was what forced me to become as strong as I was now. And so instead of being demolished, I summoned my weapon, a huge, dense rectangular box forged of stygian iron, monster remains, celestial steel, and imperial gold on a long rod-like handle that sharpened at the end into a spear, the block was mostly pitch black with a few streaks and patterns of gold etched into it. It was huge, larger than me, and heavy enough to create a crater in the ground if I dropped it. To give some context. I was 6'4, the handle was 8 feet tall with the block being 14 feet tall and 4 feet wide. Still, I wielded it as if it were a light dagger, and when it made contact with the Sphinx's head the Sphinx exploded, brains and gore splattering every which way. However, my weapon absorbed the blood, and it trembled as if content and satisfied with my tribute.

"Well done…" A slow clap resonated from all around me. I turned around, unsurprised.

"Tartarus, or whatever manifestation of you that you've created, you're all that's left for me to defeat, after you I'm leaving this hell-hole."

A deep booming laughter emitted from his void of a face, "I wish you the best of luck then."

And with that, we both lept at each other and the battle began.


	2. Chapter 2

**This is a rough draft that I've been working on. I've been really slow on uploads because I've been really busy with some family issues but I felt that I should post at least something. If there is anything you believe should be done better or anything contradicts feel free to contact me. Thanks for being so understanding and reading and please enjoy. Also, I'll make sure you get the whole backstory of David soon.**

The environment was reduced to a desolate wasteland, not that there had been much anyway. Debris was strewn about and the corpses of monsters who had wandered too closely were splayed all over the place. Craters were common and great dents where my weapon had cleaved great mounds of earth from the ground were still apparent. Tartarus was sprawled on the ground, he was missing all of his limbs and the left most side of his head was crushed in. I was sitting on a large boulder a few meters away, panting and nursing a few cuts and bruises but otherwise unhurt.

Tartarus started laughing maniacally, "You pass, I'll hold the button to the doors from down here. Remember, next time we fight, I won't be shackled anymore. Next time I see you I will kill you."

"Yea, good luck with that. We had a deal. Give me what I want." I growled.

"Fine fine," He was still chuckling, "You know the way out, however I have one last task for you."

"No."

"You'll have to do it anyway, swim across the five rivers of the underworld. If you're still alive then when you step out into the overworld you will have what I promised you."

"That wasn't the deal, plus, what you promised me isn't worth anything, I already have it." I retorted.

"Well, one more couldn't help, could it?" He began to laugh again.

"What do you get from this… exchange, if you can even call it that." I asked.

"I want you dead, but if this doesn't kill you then it will certainly make you stronger. When I am finally freed I want to taste true battle. I believe you are the only one who can give me that, but you as you are are too weak for an unshackled primordial such as myself. So I need you to get stronger. Although… in the future there may be one or two who may be able to best my children, however in the end even they will not be able to even come close to the manifestation you have just defeated."

"Basically you want to groom me into a perfect killing machine that has the ability to kill you."

"...Yes, although you are very powerful as of now, more powerful than your father. I look forward to watching what you do from now on."

I began to laugh, it was the first time I had genuinely laughed in a long while, "Thanks, I actually think that you are more of a father to me than Zeus is."

"I want to kill you… you do understand that, correct?"

"Zeus already tried to kill me. Zeus is the man that ate my mother in order to prevent me from existing, it seems he never learned that you cannot stop a prophecy." I slowly got to my feet.

"I'll see you Tartarus. And I'll kill you."

"One last thing you should know, time is warped in Tartarus, for you it was only a couple hundred years, but the overworld it has been thousands and thousands of years."

I proceeded to walk over to him and crush the rest of his head with my fist and slowly walk towards the Doors of Death.

3 days later I was walking out of a certain doorway into the overworld. My very first thought was. Wow, this is really bright. I had been living in the deepest depths of the underworld my whole life.

As I went through the doorway I came out in a small, damp room with shelves lining the walls, I heard the faint sounds of shouting above me and smelled the pungent odor of exhaust and fuel. Wrinkling my nose, I made my way to the staircase which must lead to the upper floors, I must have entered into a basement of some sort. As I emerged I saw small girls working huge smoking machines, they were grimy and dirty and extremely skinny, bordering on malnourished. I walked through the aisle while reading posters such as "Beat back with the Huns!" and newspaper clippings on the ground that read something about a Great War, the one definitive piece of information I had ascertained was that the current year was 1916. Many of the children gave me strange looks but no one said anything. As I made my way to the front doors I heard shouting… and something else…

I sprinted to the source, it was an alleyway in the back of the factory, with all the garbage and waste. A large burly man was screaming at a young girl, spittle flew from his mouth and the girl was curled up into a fetal position in front of him, there wasn't any part of her that the oil hadn't stained.

"Useless! Fucking useless! Are you retarded? How many times do I have to explain the procedures to you? You fucking demented piece of shit! We took you in off the streets, we gave you a home and an honest job! We put clothes on your back and food in your stomach!" The man began to raise his foot to kick the girl.

I slammed my knee into his back. Not hard enough to kill him, but enough to make him pass out.

"Hey, little girl. Are you alright?"

I kneeled down to get a closer look, she was trembling, it was frigid outside and all she was wearing was rags, her hands were bloody and blistered and she had a gigantic bruise covering the entirety of her stomach, it was so black and purple that she might be bleeding internally, this girl might actually die. She had her eyes closed tight and her hands covered her ears.

"Hey… um… so I don't want to kidnap you or anything but um…," I mumbled.

"Fuck, how I treat her without traumatizing her?" I muttered.

"help." Her voice was weak, she barely breathed it, (in fact, I'm not even sure she was aware I was there in front of her) but I heard it loud and clear. I don't think that it was to anyone in particular but I took it as permission. I picked her up in my arms and ran to find a safe place to stay.

"What the fuck…" The man sat up, groggy. Then he saw me, "HEY! THAT'S MY EMPLOYEE!"


	3. Chapter 3

There was a large building, towering into the sky with the bold letters 'Imperial Hotel' emblazoned on its side. I entered the front door and went up to the receptionist. The instant he looked up at us his face immediately twisted in disgust.

"Get lost, this is a 5-sta-" He began.

I sighed inwardly, I had no time for this. Focusing energy into my words I spoke, "We need a room. Now."

The man's face relaxed and his eyes glazed over.

"Of course, please, take our finest penthouse, it is on the highest floor and is, well," At this he gave a chuckle, "the entire floor."

Rushing to the elevator I pressed the upwards button. It opened within a few seconds and when I was inside I pressed the button with the highest number.

"Damn! It's been two minutes! How tall is this building?" There was no one else in the elevator with us so I promptly teleported to the highest floor. When I entered the room I placed the child on one of the many large beds and began to cast healing magic on her. It was one of the many things I picked up when learning to survive in Tartarus. After I decided she would be ok I placed a protective barrier on the entire building and went into the bathroom to take a shower. After twenty minutes of scrubbing off grime and dirt from my body I stepped out of the shower and dried my hair. Wiping off the fog from the mirror I gasped. I mean, yeah, I've never actually seen myself before, nor did I feel a need to. A handsome man stared back at me. He had sharp, elegant features. His eyes and hair were pitch black and his skin was gold colored. His shoulders were broad and his body was well muscled, not buff per se, more lean and cut. I dried off the rest of my body and and clothed myself with the clothes I had found in the closet.

"Wow, this place really has everything." Whistling as I explored, I saw that there were a multitude of rooms, an artsy sitting room, a humongous kitchen, multiple bathrooms and bedrooms, and I had only explored a third of it! There was plenty of food and clothes for people of all ages and genders in the many closets that were present. All of a sudden I heard a shriek from the girls bed. When I burst into the room I looked for any threat, but... there was none. The girl was collapsed on the floor, huddled in a corner, hyperventilating and her eyes were darting to and fro. When she noticed me she immediately prostrated herself and said,

"Sir! I'm so sorry for any trouble that I've caused. Please please please don't throw me out! I can work harder! I swear!" She must have mistaken me for a high ranking official in the sweat shop she had been working in. I knelt down beside her and patted her back, carefully, in order to not scare her.

"It's ok, you're fine now. No one's going to hurt you and you never have to go back there again. Alright?"

She slowly raised her trembling face towards me. She seemed so lost, so confused. The girl couldn't have been more than 5 or 6. Surely having children work in such horrendous conditions were illegal. Right?

"What?" She asked.

I smiled warmly at her, "Go take a bath, I'll explain everything later after your clean and have a warm meal in you."

"But I- uhhh- o-ok." She stood up and walked towards the bathroom which I pointed out to her, she never took her eyes off me. When she reached the door she slammed it shut.

I stood up and sighed. "I've been sighing a lot lately." I sighed again.

Then I went to the kitchen to make a warm and hearty meal for the both of us. But there was no mistaking it now. That child was definitely the child of a god or goddess.

**1 hour later:**

I sensed her peeking her head through the door frame. When she saw me turn my head she threw herself in the opposite direction out of my view.

"You can come out. I made dinner." I called. The smell of food must have lured her out because eventually she crept back into the doorway and into the kitchen.

The girl came out of the shower completely different. I hadn't even gotten a good look at her since she was so filthy. Her eyes were a striking pale blue and her hair was a light blonde, she had a pale skin tone, snow white if I had to describe it. She looked like a young snow elf. But… she was super skinny. It was as if a light breeze would blow her away.

The kitchen was situated so that there was a counter with 10 seats lining the bottom as well as two tables with glass tops and 4 chairs surrounding each. She sat down at the counter, struggling to pull herself up into a chair. I set the steaming lasagna in front of her and said, "I have plenty more if you'd like." She poked at it with a fork, then she stared at me expectantly.

"Uh… it's not poisoned you know…" I told her.

She continued to examine it, before ravenously tearing into the food. I gave her a huge platter and yet it was as if a vortex had swallowed it all up. She smiled brightly at me with bits of lasagna covering her mouth and dotting her face while presenting her plate proudly in front of me.

"Do you want some more?" I laughed.

"Yes!" She exclaimed.

Still chuckling, I took her plate and scooped some more lasagna on it. All of a sudden I stopped, when was the last time I had been at peace like this? I felt something I had never felt before. Safety, all my life I had felt anger and hatred, I'd constantly been on edge because I could die at any instant, but now? Being safe felt…calming? How curious.

"Mister, are you ok?" The girl leaned over the counter and tugged at my shirt.

"Yea, yea, I'm fine." And with that I set the plate in front of her once again, and again, she proceeded to rip it to shreds.

Later, when the girl was in bed snoring away, I ambled to the balcony. Leaning forwards and setting my hands on the balcony, I stared up into the night sky. When I breathed out mist escaped from my mouth. The stars were bright and the moon was shining. I smiled, a true, relaxed smile.

"This is pretty nice."


End file.
